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By RAMA PEROO
Cowley College

With a pair of national champions and three region champions returning to the squad, the Cowley College women's tennis team will once again be one of the top teams in the nation.

The Lady Tigers are coming off one of its finest seasons in the program's history as they captured three national titles and placed fourth at the national tournament.

Back for the Lady Tigers are Kasia Siwosz, the defending national champion at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles; Karolina Porizkova, who teamed with Siwosz to lose just one match at No. 1 doubles all season; and Monica Medina, the region champion at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles.

Josh Cobble, who is in his first year as head coach of the Lady Tigers, inherited a team with a lot of talent.

"I am very fortunate to have those three players back from a very successful team," Cobble said.

Joining the returning players are freshmen Elizabeth Galindo and Thea Lonewolf. Galindo was one of the top junior tennis players in Colombia, while Lonewolf built a solid game playing high school tennis in Oklahoma.

"I expect nothing but good things from them," Cobble said. "Elizabeth was an excellent player in Colombia and Thea did a great job in the fall."

Cobble is in the process of adding a couple more ladies to the team and will have a full squad when the season opens.

Cowley will play a tough early season schedule in order to prepare to defend its region title.

"We have a lot of top NCAA Division II schools and some (NCAA) Division I schools on top of the junior college schools on our schedule," Cobble said. "We are going to see a lot of good tennis and are going to see the level we are going to need to be playing at when the region tournament starts."

With a solid nucleus of players, Cobble is excited about the possibilities of this year's team.

"We will have a shot at winning the region title and I think are as good as anybody out there," Cobble said.